Ying Cao, CFA
Vice President, Finances & Community Relations, Canada
Helen came to Winnipeg on Canada Day in 1990. She finished her second Master in Computer Science degree from University of Saskatchewan in April 1994.
Helen started her financial industry career in January 1995 as an Interest Rate Derivatives Trading System Analyst for CIBC Wood Gundy. During her tenor in CIBC from 1995 to early 2006, she has played leading roles in numerous areas such as system analysis, business analysis, project management, and application interface management. Helen earned her Chartered Financial Analyst designation in September 2005.
In early 2006, she moved to RBC World Markets. As one of the only two women in the World Markets IT Canada senior management team, Helen's portfolios included Fixed Income Trading Floor support, Bond Trading system development, Money Market trading system development, Fixed Income E-Trading system, and building business knowledge base for all RBC Capital Markets development personals. She has earned several Start Performance Award and Employee Excellence Award.
In early 2011, Helen left RBC World Markets and founded her own financial consulting company providing business analysis for various banks. The financial projects that she has worked on included Repo Trading System, collateral management system, Swap Execution Facilities, Central Clearing for Interest Rate and Credit Derivatives products, Real Time Risk for IR Derivatives products, IR Derivatives trading risks, and Regulatory and Compliance Reporting for US, Canada, and Europe. In all these projects, she has served as the lead business consultant. Starting early 2015, Helen has shifted her focus from business analytics to securities trading, including stocks, options, and futures.
Helen is also a successful mother. Her son received a PhD in computational biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in June 2017 with the highest honour and entered Columbia University as a postdoc. At the same time as being offered a full scholarship by MIT, he also received full scholarship admission from Harvard University, Stanford University, Cambridge University, and the University of Toronto. After graduating from McGill University, her daughter entered the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Canada with 99% LSAT score. She not only won the first place in multiple subjects, but also won the first place in the overall academic performance. She was also the record holder of female Rubik's Cube player for 6 years. Helen has also dedicated her energy to helping others. She has been invited to many parenting related seminars and conferences as a keynote speaker or a lecturer. She has helped a countless number of international students with their academic, career planning and development.
Besides her work, she is heavily involved in community work. She is currently serving as Vice President of CPAC (Chinese Professional Association of Canada), Secretary General of CPAC Foundation, Chair of EMAC (Education and Multi-Culture Alliance of Canada), Vice President of CNIW (Centre for New Immigrant Well-Being), Secretary General of Tianjin Alliance of Canada, and Chair of Don Valley North Federal Liberal Association.